This article presents the perspective that the quality of teacher-made, small classroom tests has not improved, and may have declined in recent years. This decline may be due to the fact that teachers have come to believe that the kinds of objective items used in national standardized tests are the only item types appropriate for classroom use. The points stressed for improving classroom tests include: (1) teachers should use the item form that is most natural and convenient for a particular academic subject, instead of predominantly relying on the multiple-choice item test; (2) teachers should learn the usefulness of performance and identification items when writing items, especially in courses that include laboratory work; and (3) teachers should use the improved design of free-answer items (that is, medical diagnosis items, in-basket items, etc). The extensive appendices include sample test items and illustrative item types. Also attached are two previously published articles: "Measuring the Effects of Newspapers in the Classroom," by Paul B. Diederich and Marvin Maskovsky; and "Evaluating Innovations by Innovations in Evaluation," by Paul B. Diederich. (PN)